Science Times: Should we make daylight saving time permanent?

July 28, 2026

Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Should We Make Daylight Saving Time Permanent?

More light at the day’s end comes at a price: much later winter sunrises across much of the U.S. Scientists have documented consequences for public health and the economy.

We’ve made the links to the top story on daylight saving time and the next two articles about staying hydrated and keeping your liver healthy free for everyone (although you may need to log in first).

An illustration of a figure wearing sunglasses and sweating while drinking from a glass of water. A shining sun hangs in the sky behind them.

Dominic Kesterton

Are You Hydrated? Take Our Quiz and Find Out

Is coffee dehydrating? And 11 other questions about your daily fluid needs.

By Erica Sweeney and Dominic Kesterton

An illustration of a grid of items related to liver health including: a plate of healthy food, pills and a pill bottle, a bathroom scale, a person walking mid-stride, a syringe, blood vessels and beverage bottles.

Elena Boils

The Best and Worst Habits for Your Liver

Liver disease is on the rise worldwide. Your diet, workout routine and other health conditions can affect your risk.

By Nina Agrawal

KT Kanazawich for The New York Times

Most ‘Ovarian Cancer’ Isn’t. And That Fact Can Save Lives.

The vast majority of cases begin in the fallopian tubes — and removing them can reduce the risk by nearly 80 percent.

By Gina Kolata

Capuchinos de Taboga Project

In This Costa Rican Forest, Monkeys Come Face-to-Face With A.I.

CapuchinAI, a portable testing station equipped with a touch screen and facial recognition software, could help scientists study primate intelligence in the wild.

By Emily Anthes

Email us

Let us know how we’re doing at sciencenewsletter@nytimes.com.

An aerial view of a landscape shows the sea, a long stretch of sandy beach and clouds rising over forested areas.

Romain Perrocheau/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Firefighters in France Encounter a ‘Fire Cloud’

A pyrocumulonimbus — a thundercloud created by intense heat — is a phenomenon that can spark new blazes and is “unprecedented in France,” officials said.

By Claire Moses

A marmot, a large, squirrel-like rodent with whiskers and furry ears, sitting on a tree branch.

Daniel T. Blumstein

‘OnlyMarms’: Marmots Are on OnlyFans to Raise Money for Research

A team of scientists uploaded videos of the squirrel-like rodents in the wild on the adult-content site OnlyFans to raise money amid government budget cuts.

By Emmett Lindner

A computer-generated image showing a purple protein chain seeming to attack and brown gunky substance clinging to a blue protein fiber.

Revel Pharmaceuticals

Can This New Enzyme Turn Back the Clock in the Human Body?

In a recent study, scientists devised a way of reversing the buildup of compounds that lead to some age-related diseases.

By K. R. Callaway

A blue-purple water lily with a bright yellow center in a pond.

Scott Carruthers/Alamy

What Were the Lotus-Eaters Eating?

In Homer’s epic, Odysseus’s men eat something so powerful that they forget about home. Which plants could have produced such a soporific, narcotic and amnesiac effect?

By Jack Truesdale

On Second Test of Its Newest Starship Design, SpaceX Sticks the Landing

It was the 13th test overall of Starship. The success is a boon to NASA’s moon plans and SpaceX’s hopes to deploy a million data centers in orbit.

By Kenneth Chang

Deep in This Lake, a Contagious Cancer Is Spreading

Transmissible tumors have been reported in a handful of animal species, but never before among fish. Is it possible in humans?

By Carl Zimmer

Guy Tudor, Whose Art Brought Obscure Birds to Life, Dies at 91

A self-taught ornithologist, he won a MacArthur fellowship for his precise, resplendent illustrations that appeared in definitive field guides to tropical songbirds.

By Guy Trebay

CLIMATE CHANGE

A modest building with a clay tile roof has been partly reduced to rubble, but a bunch of purple flowers lies on a table next to a plant.

Julien De Rosa/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

A Summer of Extremes Set the Conditions for Europe’s Wildfires

The wildfires are scorching parts of France and Spain that had already faced unusually hot and dry summers.

By Chico Harlan

Aerial view of a patch of arid land with rows of tanks and a tall pipe emitting a large flame.

Paul Ratje for The New York Times

Oil Firms Knew for Decades of Methane’s Danger to Planet, Documents Suggest

The companies knew they were releasing more of the greenhouse gas than they publicly reported, according to industry files cited by the Center for Climate Integrity, an activist organization.

By Hiroko Tabuchi

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HEALTH

Stefani Reynolds for The New York Times

Fauci, in Private Diary, Reflected on Covid’s Origins and His Own Fame

Private entries, released by a Republican senator, have reignited a furious debate over whether Covid-19 leaked from a lab.

By Sheryl Gay Stolberg

An illustration of a person sitting reclined in a hospital bed with a pillow behind their head and a blanket and open book on their lap. An IV drip, and walker are also in the room. There is a large window with tree branches outside the room.

Bianca Bagnarelli

New Old Age

What Geriatric Emergency Departments Do Differently

These specialized units can help keep older patients out of the hospital, lower their health care costs and more.

By Paula Span

Arlette Bashizi for The New York Times

Global Health

With Hopes High for New H.I.V. Prevention Pill, Merck Takes Steps to Ensure Access

Companies in Africa and India will make generic versions of the pill that could cost as little as $5 per person per year. But access to the drug and other new products in much of Latin America remains uncertain.

By Stephanie Nolen

Andrew Mangum for The New York Times